The Blues boss believes Everton need to continue to make progress and made clear he would like to lead it
Everton manager David Moyes
Everton manager David Moyes(Image: Dylan Hepworth/Every Second Media)
View Image
David Moyes has laid out his desire to take Everton forward, declaring: “I can’t accept Everton just being mid-table.”
The Blues boss could yet take the club back into Europe should results go their way in the final two games of the season. Those hopes have, however, been dented by a recent streak of disappointing results.
Even if Everton finish outside the qualification spots, Moyes believes this will have been a season of progress. But he would not be happy with leaving it at that, stressing: “I feel as if I have to try and push it on.”
His comments are a clear indication the Scot wants to lead the club into the future, significant given he will enter the final 12 months of his current deal this summer - a situation that while unresolved will lead to speculation about the club’s plans.
They also point to an awareness of the fragility of the Blues' growth, with Moyes essentially warning that one positive campaign is not enough to lead to complacency about what will happen next.
Everton lie in 10th position heading into the penultimate weekend of the season and their league finish could still swing wildly with all spots from sixth to 16th still mathematically possible.
While Champions League looks beyond the Blues after five games without a win, a strong finish could still lead to midweek football on the continent.
Whatever happens, this has been the first season in five in which there has, at no point, been any concern over relegation.
Reflecting on how competitive his side has been ahead of the visit of Sunderland on Sunday (3pm kick-off), Moyes said: “I think the club was looking to get back to the levels they’re at. I think the club had been waiting to reset and get back to these levels, roughly where we are.
“I still think there’s a little bit of: ‘Hey, wait a minute, we might have done enough’, and I don’t feel that way. I don’t feel as if we’ve done enough. I feel as if we have to go again. I feel as if I have to try and push it on. I can’t accept Everton just being mid-table.
“By the way, if you’d given me that at the start of the season, I’d have probably said: ‘Not a problem, that’s fine’. But I want to move Everton on. I want to keep it going. I want to build on it.”
A season of promise could still end in Europe despite a summer of squad transition, the challenges posed by the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium and injuries to key players for long parts of the season, namely Jarrad Branthwaite and Jack Grealish.
Moyes believes the Blues need to strengthen in the summer and cannot avoid hard work if they want to continue to progress, highlighting how clubs with recent European success are fighting for their Premier League survival.
He said: “I’m looking at Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham. Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League last year. Two years before that, I won the Conference League with West Ham.
“If you don’t spend correctly or spend wisely, you can find yourself that you could be relegated in this league. It’s so easy to be done. Everton have just come through a period where how they’ve survived, and some of the games, and the points deductions, et cetera, has been amazing.
“So we’ve got to make sure that we’re not going to be a team who’s in that conversation. I think we need to build again and keep building. I don’t think that we can, for a minute, think that we can make a big, huge jump and we’re going to do it. I don’t think it’s that way.
“But we’ve got to act as if we’re trying to improve and do it again.”